In a test of the clout of neighborhood
activism in Los Angeles, leaders of advisory neighborhood councils
Saturday mobilized for another fight against an already approved
increase in city water rates.

Many of the estimated 600 neighborhood
council members who attended a daylong conference at the Los Angeles
Convention Center sported "Roll Back the Rate Increase"
stickers provided by supporters of state Sen. Richard Alarcon, who has
made the rate increase a key issue in his campaign for Los Angeles
mayor.

They also signed petitions sponsored by
Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, calling on City Council members to rescind the
water rate hike, which took effect in June.

Neighborhood council leaders won a
partial victory earlier this year by persuading the city to scale back a
proposed two-year, 18 percent water rate hike to one year and 11
percent.

But on Saturday at the city-sponsored
Congress of Neighborhoods, an event that dealt with a variety of
municipal issues, leaders of many neighborhood councils citywide said
they were ready to take up the water issue again after several residents
sued the city over the increase, alleging that it was a hidden tax.

"Now that there's a lawsuit, I think
it's revived the energy," said Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council
President Ron Nagai.

The plaintiffs argue that because the DWP
is transferring $239 million to the city's general fund this year --
most of it from electricity revenue -- any rate increase amounts to an
illegal tax.

Barbara Carroll, a Greater Toluca Lake
Neighborhood Council board member, said the issue is one of a few that
concern neighborhood councils citywide.

"I truly think that neighborhood
councils have become more instrumental recently in getting issues out in
front of the city that are of concern to the public," she said.
"I think this could result in some additional rollbacks."

Neighborhood councils were formed under a
1999 City Charter amendment designed to increase local representation at
City Hall. The panels have no formal authority over land use or budget
issues other than the ability to spend $50,000 each in city funds.

Addressing the groups Saturday, Mayor
James Hahn promised them greater freedom in how they can spend funds and
reaffirmed his intent to have the councils take part in evaluating
general managers of city departments. In addition to Hahn and Alarcon,
2005 mayoral candidates Robert Hertzberg, Antonio Villaraigosa, Bernard
Parks and Walter Moore made appearances.